On Tuesday, China's National Bureau of Statistics announced that third-quarter gross domestic product growth was 7.3%; that was the slowest in five years, or the worst performance since early 2009 during the global financial crisis. Then today, there was a glint of good news, with a manufacturing measure above expectations. The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 50.4, compared with 50.2 the month before, and a three-month high. Although the index showed improvement in employment and inventory levels, domestic as well as external demand showed some signs of slowing, cautioned Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC, in a statement released today.